by Joel Dwek | Jan 31, 2022 | Reviews
Taking reggae and blending it with blues, R&B, and rock’n’roll, Jamaican icons Toots and the Maytals are at their best on this resplendent album… I have always considered myself a person with adventurous film tastes, though I am aware that saying...
by Danny Wiser | Jan 9, 2022 | Reviews
On the surface, this album seems a true enigma; yet by exercising patience and acceptance its truth will surely reveal itself to you… We are yet to feature an album shrouded in such a mystery as Songs I-V. The first time I heard the album, I was unaware of the...
by Danny Wiser | Jan 7, 2022 | Reviews
Redefining the genre with a unique tenderness, Popcaan’s debut album deservedly launched him into the global public conciousness… For most people, one’s teenage years are instrumental in forming and developing one’s own music taste, as it is an...
by Joel Dwek | Dec 29, 2021 | Reviews
Afro-Cuban music inspired pianist Kishon Khan as a young man, and the result is this epic album of Latin-South Asian fusion… While the music is always the most important part of an album, there are certain extraneous details that can be important as well. Things...
by Danny Wiser | Oct 31, 2021 | Reviews
Soca from one of the world’s smallest countries – but is it up to scratch…? Joel: Going into this project, while I liked calypso music, I was not a huge fan of soca music. Over a year later, and though I would not say it’s my favourite genre, I have...
by Danny Wiser | Sep 20, 2021 | Reviews
Prescient lyricism, ambitious compositions and raw energy – Toque Profundo’s debut album is for the history books… If you have arrived to this page looking for a recommendation of an amazing Dominican classic, in some respects you have come to the...
by Joel Dwek | Sep 17, 2021 | Reviews, Top Picks
Latin jazz with some infectious drumbeats, percussionist Cándido shows off his immense talent and flair for fusion music… When I first listened to the album Beautiful by Cuban percussionist Cándido, who passed away last year at the grand old age of 99, the...
by Danny Wiser | May 13, 2021 | Reviews
Michele Henderson’s debut album introduces the world to her impressive vocal talent… As an internationalist with a keen sense of global identity, from a young age I took great pride in my rather abnormal interest in countries other than my own. Whilst most...
by Joel Dwek | May 10, 2021 | Reviews
Taking pleasant party vibes and mixing them up a bit, Barbadian musician Rupee reveals his strengths and his flaws… In his review for the John Travolta-led sci-fi box office bomb and critical failure Battlefield Earth (which, if you haven’t seen, is genuinely...
by Danny Wiser | May 1, 2021 | Reviews
Take off your colonial-tinted Western goggles, don’t immediately judge that which you are not used to, and the record’s depths will reveal itself as more than exotic and zany ‘black music’… There is so much to say about this album, that I...
by Danny Wiser | Apr 3, 2021 | Reviews
Jazz singer David Emmanuel blends together Caribbean music culture with soul, funk and pop, with one delicious Easter egg hidden at the end of the album… Hailing from the ‘Island of Spice’, where people report the nation smelling like one giant scented candle...
by Joel Dwek | Mar 28, 2021 | Reviews
Combining their fearsome talents with New Orleans-based musicians, Lakou Mizik aim to highlight musical links to the US, while also challenging assumptions about Haiti and its culture… The nation of Haiti has a fascinating history that is compelling by turns...
by Danny Wiser | Mar 3, 2021 | Reviews
Cricket statistics and anti-colonialist calypso, what more could you want in an album…? White people in the West, with little exposure to Calypso music, might rather naively associate it just with party times. Perhaps the most famous song from the genre that is...
by Danny Wiser | Feb 2, 2021 | Reviews
Proving himself to be more than just a one hit wonder, Soca star Lyttle proves collaborations might be the key to international stardom… Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, a country whose name already sounds like they could have been a successful doo-wop band in...
by Danny Wiser | Dec 24, 2020 | Advent Calendar
PUERTO RICO: Feliz Navidad – José Feliciano… This is one of our favourite Christmas songs of all time. If you want to host a Christmas party and wish to get your guests dancing, then your best bet is to head over to your sound system and pop on José...
by Danny Wiser | Dec 23, 2020 | Reviews
Although ultimately a pan-Latin genre, Celia Cruz’s Cuban origins shine through the first truly seminal salsa album… When one thinks about salsa stars who were instrumental in the early development of the genre in New York, one nationality of performer seems to...
by Danny Wiser | Dec 16, 2020 | Advent Calendar
JAMAICA: Santa Claus, Do You Ever Come to the Ghetto? – Chronixx… This cover of gospel/reggae artists Carlene Davis and Trinity’s song touches on a theme that many fail to remember during the festivities. Whilst Christmas can often be a time of materialism...
by Danny Wiser | Dec 12, 2020 | Reviews
Almost two decades after initially planned, stars link-up to show off their musical talent, reminding us of the evident connection Cuba has to its African roots Arguably the best and certainly one of the most renowned world music albums comes from Cuba. In fact, Buena...
by Joel Dwek | Oct 29, 2020 | Reviews
Easy, relaxed vibes pulsate through this collection of upbeat, jazzy tunes… The Caribbean islands have a myriad of musical styles associated with them, from reggae and calypso, to dancehall to dub, but one of the most popular styles of recent years has been soca...
by Joel Dwek | Aug 26, 2020 | Reviews
A bundle of fun with distant associations with the jewel in the crown of London’s annual calendar to make it just that little bit more special… Joel: Machel Montano’s music on Monk Evolution is a broadly crowd-pleasing set of fun soca tunes meant to get you up...
by Danny Wiser | Jul 12, 2020 | Reviews
Regardless of its festive feel, the duo’s fun Christmas album is listenable all year round thanks to its many catchy tunes Around six years ago, I heard someone, who I thought was a reasonable person, say something so ridiculous that it still enrages me to this...
by Joel Dwek | Jul 1, 2020 | Reviews
Jam-packed with catchy and memorable songs that fuse reggae and rap, Distant Relatives has a lot to offer both lyrically and musically… Sometimes an album can surprise you. Full disclosure here, I don’t like rap music very much, though there’s some I do like a...
